ORNL says it can cut titanium production cost in half

Wolfgang Gruener, 20th May 2008

Scientists from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory said they have found a way to produce titanium in a much cheaper way: The new processing technique could reduce the amount of energy required and the cost to make titanium parts from powders by up to 50%, they claim. This advance could make it feasible to use titanium alloys for brake rotors, artificial joint replacements, armor for military vehicles and possibly lots of high-end gadgets.

"Instead of using conventional melt processing to produce products from titanium powder, with the new method the powders remain in their solid form during the entire procedure," Bill Peter, a researcher in ORNL's Materials Science and Technology Division, said. "This saves a tremendous amount of energy required for processing, greatly reduces the amount of scrap and allows for new alloys and engineered composites."